Jack Mann MBE (19 March 1906 – 26 May 1989) was a

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and devised Houghton White Burgundy, a wine that became the flagship of the Western Australian wine industry. He was chief winemaker at

Houghton Winery Houghton Wines is an Australian winery originating in the Swan Valley (Western Australia), Swan Valley wine region of Western Australia at the historic Houghton Estate. A subsidiary of Accolade Wines, the company operates four of Western Austr ...

in the Swan Valley, from 1930 to 1972 and is considered one of the pioneers of the Western Australian wine industry.

Early life

Mann was born in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. His father George was a well-known

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

maker from Chateau Tanunda winery in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major list of wine-producing regions, wine-producin ...

and his mother was a member of the Sobels winemaking family.

Career

Mann started work at Houghton's with his father George in 1922. He succeeded his father as chief winemaker eight years later. In the 1930s his

oloroso Oloroso ("scented" in English language, English) is a variety of fortified wine (sherry) made in Jerez de la Frontera, Jerez and Montilla-Moriles and produced by oxidative Aging of wine, aging. It is normally darker than Amontillado. Oloroso is us ...

won the first of 13 successive Australian Champion awards. In 1932 Mann introduced a butcher's mincing machine which fragmented grape skins, but not the seeds, after the stalks had been separated from the bunches. In 1936 he acquired a Seitz germ proof filter, the first to be imported into Australia, which allowed sterile filtration. The next year

Chenin blanc Chenin blanc (, ; known also as Pineau de la Loire among #Synonyms, other names) is a white wine grape variety from the Loire Valley (wine), Loire Valley of France (wine), France. Its high acidity (wine), acidity means it can be used to make var ...

won first prize at the Melbourne Wine Show, and Houghton White Burgundy was born. During his career he won many awards for

claret Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gir ...

burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, tawny port, vintage port, liqueur frontignac and liqueur hermitage. He was awarded an MBE in 1964 for services to the

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

industry and ''

The West Australian ''The West Australian'' is the only locally edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia. It is owned by Seven West Media (SWM), as is the state's other major newspaper, ''The Sunday Times''. It is the second-oldest continuousl ...

'' newspaper included him in their list of

's 100 most influential people in 2006.

Sport

Jack Mann was a noted

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er and successful underarm bowler: he took over 2000 wickets in WA grade cricket including 81 in the 1927/28 season. The Jack Mann Oval in Middle Swan is named for him.

Personal life and family

In 1938, Mann married Angela Doolette. He had three sons and a daughter. He died on 26 May 1989 at his Middle Swan home. Lamont's winery in the Swan Valley was founded by Jack's daughter and son-in-law Corin and Neil Lamont. His son, Tony Mann represented Australia in four cricket test matches and was the first Australian to score a test century as a nightwatchman. His son, Dorham Mann also operates a small winery at Upper Swan producing a method champenoise sparkling wine made from cabernet sauvignon grapes. His granddaughter Kate Lamont is a noted cook and businesswoman. His grandson, Robert Mann, is the Estate Director at Newton Vineyard in Napa Valley, California. Robert Mann also makes wine from his family's vineyard in the Swan Valley, Western Australia under the label

Corymbia ''Corymbia'', commonly known as bloodwoods, is a genus of about one hundred species of tree that, along with ''Eucalyptus'', '' Angophora'' and several smaller groups, are referred to as eucalypts. Until 1990, corymbias were included in the g ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Jack Australian winemakers Members of the Order of the British Empire 1906 births 1989 deaths